An excerpt from: A Dictionary of Gnostic Terms by Aratron
Introduction
Gnosticism is the name given to an esoteric religious movement that prospered in western Asia and Egypt between 250 B.C. and 400 A.D. There were many different sects that have been classified as Gnostic. All of them claimed to posses Gnosis (Knowledge). This Knowledge was not academic. Rather it was of a supernal nature that could not be learned, but was experienced through various mystical experiences that were revealed to the individual by divine grace.
There were many different Gnostic sects and teachers with varying beliefs. Some of the leading Gnostic teachers were Basilides, Carpocrates, Cerinthus, and Valentinus. However, there were basic tenets that all Gnostic sects had in common. The most important and controversial is the belief that mankind and the visible universe was not the creation of the father of Jesus. Instead it was the creation of an inferior being. Christian Gnostics refereed to this entity as the Demiurge. The Demiurge was considered to be an evil angel or lesser god. Because of the Demiurge's imperfect nature the material world and all things in it are flawed.
The opinion of the Demiurge's personality differed between the Gnostic sects. Some Gnostics taught that the Demiurge was a vengeful, cruel and evil being who ruled the material world with an Iron fist. Other Gnostics did not considered him to be evil. These Gnostics labeled him as the Just God, they felt that the Demiurge was simply ignorant and arrogant not evil. Both schools of thought identified the Demiurge as the god of the Old Testament. The Gnostics saw a distinct contrast between the creator god of the Old Testament whose Justice was harsh and who punishes every trespass of the law, and the God of the New Testament who encourage forgiveness and love, this was the God (father) Jesus taught about. Feeling compassion for the plight of mankind under the Demiurge's reign this True God, the father of Jesus, sends his Son to set man on the right path and show them the way to salvation (Gnosis). The Gnostics viewed the flesh as innately flawed, because of this many Gnostics believed that the Son never really became man. A group of Gnostics Known as Docetists, believed that the physical manifestation of the Son was nothing more than an illusion and Christ never really became flesh. Other Gnostic sects claimed that there was a man named Jesus whose body the Son of God possessed and used. However, when the crucifixion took place the Son left the possessed body and Jesus the man was killed. Certain Gnostic teachers also denied the teachings of the Orthodox Church concerning the resurrection of the body.
The Gnostic teachers claimed that they had received from the apostles secret teachings that were only to be shared with the spiritually mature. Without possession of this revealed Knowledge (gnosis), mankind cannot be saved. Some Gnostic teachers taught that there were a vast number of lesser gods or divine emanations that emanated from the One true God. While others such as the Valentinian Gnostics professed the oneness of God in their scriptures.
